Taiwan is an island system with advanced aquaculture technology and large-scale fishery production. In the course of processing aquatic products, a large amount of waste is produced, including fish skin.
Fish skin is rich in collagen, and methods for obtaining collagen from fish skin or from fish scales such as that of Taiwan tilapia fish (Tilapia) are described in R.O.C. (Taiwan) Patent Publication Nos. 200535141, 200902039 and 201000111 and R.O.C. Patent No. 1263678. R.O.C. Patent Publication No. 200927190 discloses a hydrolyzate obtained by fermenting fish skin of monacanthidae with Bacillus subtilis natto; the hydrolyzate has an antioxidant effect and can be used to promote proliferation of skin fibroblasts and production of protocollagen.
However, there is room for further development in use of fish skin.